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Police & Fire
Woman Seriously Injured After Car Crashes Into Her, Speeds Away Woman Seriously Injured After Car Crashes Into Her, Speeds Away
Woman Seriously Injured After Car Crashes Into Her, Speeds Away A 21-year-old woman suffered serious head injuries after a car crashed into her and then sped away in New Haven County, police said.  The unnamed woman pushing a car with bottles across Broad Street in Meriden just before 8 p.m. She had nearly made it through the crosswalk when a car crashed into her in the northbound lanes, authorities said.  The sedan slowed down for a moment before driving away.  Paramedics rushed the woman to Hartford Hospital with serious injuries to her head and lower body.  Witnesses described the car to Meriden Police as light-colored (white, l…

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
Cold Case: Police Bust Man In 35-Year-Old Rape, Kidnapping Spree Case Cold Case: Police Bust Man In 35-Year-Old Rape, Kidnapping Spree Case
Cold Case: Police Bust Man In 35-Year-Old Rape, Kidnapping Spree Case A 53-year-old man arrested this week that could be the key to solving a series of kidnappings and rapes that happened in a small Fairfield County town in 1989, authorities announced.  David V. Coffey was arrested and charged in connection to the abduction and rape of a woman in Danbury, authorities said. Police added other arrests are pending in the cases.  The woman was one of several who said they were attacked in the Lake Avenue and Merrimac Street area of Danbury, but "despite the diligent efforts of the investigators," detectives were unable to solve the case, …

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
Firefighter Killed In ATV Crash ID'd: 'Words Cannot Express The Magnitude Of This Loss' Firefighter Killed In ATV Crash ID'd: 'Words Cannot Express The Magnitude Of This Loss'
Firefighter Killed In ATV Crash ID'd: 'Words Cannot Express The Magnitude Of This Loss' A Connecticut firefighter who was killed when the ATV he was on rolled over while battling a blaze has been identified as a grandfather and former member of the Hartford Fire Department.  Robert "Sharky" Sharkevich Sr., age 66, was working as a member of the Wethersfield Volunteer Fire Department on Tuesday, Oct. 22, fighting a brush fire that had spread to more than 90 acres on Lamentation Mountain in Berlin, Meriden Police said.  Sharkevich and three other firefighters were in Meriden on the southern edge of the blaze, riding a firefighting ATV that flipped around 5:30 p.m.…

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
(UPDATE) Firefighter Killed In ATV Crash While Fighting Brush Fire (UPDATE) Firefighter Killed In ATV Crash While Fighting Brush Fire
(Update) Firefighter Killed In ATV Crash While Fighting Brush Fire Update: Authorities have identified the man killed battling the blaze as a 66-year-old retired Hartford firefighter. Click here for more information on him and the crash.  Original: A Connecticut firefighter was killed in an ATV crash while fighting a brush fire in Hartford County on Tuesday, Oct. 22, authorities said.  The Wethersfield firefighter was riding on a firefighting ATV that crashed around 5:30 p.m. in Berlin, where crews are battling a brush fire that has spread to 90 acres on Lamentation Mountain.  The firefighter, whose name has not been released, was on the s…

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
Man Fights Officers While Violating Protection Order: Cops Man Fights Officers While Violating Protection Order: Cops
Man Fights Officers While Violating Protection Order: Cops A 41-year-old New Jersey man got into a fight with multiple Connecticut police officers trying to stop him as he violated a protective order in New Haven County, authorities said.  Jose Valentin Duran-Castillo, of Phillipsburg, NJ, faces several felony charges following his arrest on Friday, Oct. 18, East Haven Police said. A judge ordered him held on a $250,000 bond.  Police were called to a Highland Avenue home in East Haven around 5:45 p.m. to reports of an unwanted man on the property. Officers arrived to find Duran-Castillo, who immediately became hostile with authoritie…

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
Dog Found Starving, Emaciated, Locked In Cage In Home's Basement For 24 Hours: Police Dog Found Starving, Emaciated, Locked In Cage In Home's Basement For 24 Hours: Police
Dog Found Starving, Emaciated, Locked In Cage In Home's Basement For 24 Hours: Police A 2-year-old dog rescued over the weekend was found starving and emaciated at a New Haven County home. The poodle's owner now faces an animal cruelty charge, authorities said.  Police were called to Jolissa Nozier's Naugatuck home on Sunday evening, Oct. 20, after neighbors complained that her dog had been barking for hours, police said. They told officers that Nozier had been gone for a day. A rescue agency said the animal had been left in a crate in the Carroll Street home's basement since the owner left.  Naugatuck Police took custody of the dog named Rocky and surrendered it t…

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
Man Wanted On Child Porn Charges Hid In CT Woods For Months: Marshals Man Wanted On Child Porn Charges Hid In CT Woods For Months: Marshals
Man Wanted On Child Porn Charges Hid In CT Woods For Months: Marshals A 40-year-old wanted man was found hiding in a camp deep in the woods in Windham County on Monday, Oct. 21, after months on the run, authorities said.  Steven Labrecque, 40, is wanted by authorities in Massachusetts on charges of child pornography, photographing intimate parts of a child, intimidation of a witness, reckless endangerment of a child, threatening, obscene matter to a minor, assault, and battery, the US Marshal Service said.  Marshals were asked to help find Labrecque after police in Franklin and New Bedford, Massachusetts, were unable to track him down. Aut…

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
Tractor-Trailer Rollover Crash Causes Fuel Spill, Sends Several To Hospital Tractor-Trailer Rollover Crash Causes Fuel Spill, Sends Several To Hospital
Tractor-Trailer Rollover Crash Causes Fuel Spill, Sends Several To Hospital Several people were hospitalized Sunday night, Oct. 20, after a tractor-trailer rollover crash that spilled fuel along I-84 in Hartford County, police said.  The crash was reported around 11:30 p.m. near eastbound Exit 39 after a car crashed into the truck carrying produce, causing it to roll, Connecticut State Police said.  The truck landed on its side and leaked fuel along the highway. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection responded to the crash to deal with the clean-up, authorities said.  Several people were injured in the crash, though none of their…

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
Aggressive Driver Topped 120 MPH While Weaving Through Traffic: Police Aggressive Driver Topped 120 MPH While Weaving Through Traffic: Police
Aggressive Driver Topped 120 MPH While Weaving Through Traffic: Police A 22-year-old Connecticut man was caught speeding at more than 120 mph on Sunday, Oct. 20, while aggressively driving through New London County.  Louis Dieu, 22, of Norwich, was busted as he aggressively weaved through traffic along Route 2 in Bozrah just before 7 p.m., Connecticut State Police said.  A state trooper followed Dieu's silver Range Rover for several miles and saw him tailgating other drivers and passing on the right at triple-digit speeds, authorities said.  He complied with a traffic stop, and authorities charged him with reckless driving. He was later re…

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
Sex Offender Nabbed Approaching Women, Fondling Himself; He Was Busted Again A Day Later: Cops Sex Offender Nabbed Approaching Women, Fondling Himself; He Was Busted Again A Day Later: Cops
Sex Offender Nabbed Approaching Women, Fondling Himself; He Was Busted Again A Day Later: Cops A 31-year-old Connecticut registered offender was arrested twice in two days for inappropriately touching himself in public, authorities said. He was already out on bond for prior incidents.  Wojciech Warzynski, 31, of Farmington in Hartford County, was first arrested on Wednesday, Oct. 9, after he reportedly approached two females at the MDC Reservoir while fondling himself inappropriately, authorities said.  Officers had responded to the Farmington reservoir after multiple people called about a man acting suspiciously, officials said.  Warzynski was arrested the next day a…

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
Wrong-Way Driver Killed In Route 8 Head-On Collision Wrong-Way Driver Killed In Route 8 Head-On Collision
Wrong-Way Driver Killed In Route 8 Head-On Collision A 30-year-old Connecticut man was killed early Sunday morning, Oct. 20, after driving the wrong way on a highway and crashing into an oncoming car in New Haven County, authorities said.  Aron Tyrell Vann, of Waterbury in New Haven County, drove south in the northbound lanes along Route 8 in Waterbury when his Nissan Altima collided with a Jeep Cherokee just after 3 a.m., Connecticut State Police said.  Paramedics rushed Vann to Waterbury Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.  The Jeep driver, a 36-year-old from Allentown, Pennsylvania, suffered minor injurie…

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
Truck Barrels Through Convenience Store Sending Driver To Hospital Truck Barrels Through Convenience Store Sending Driver To Hospital
Truck Barrels Through Convenience Store Sending Driver To Hospital A truck crashed into a New Haven County convenience store Saturday morning, Oct. 19, sending the driver to the hospital, authorities said.  The truck crashed through the glass front of the Patco store at 271 Foxon Road in North Branford around 11:30 a.m., police said.  The driver was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital with minor injuries. Luckily, no one else was hurt, North Branford Police said.  A North Branford Building Official was on scene Saturday to determine the damage to the building.  Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash. Officers…

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by Josh Lanier